Born in 1949 in County Durham, White began playing the drums aged 12, and joined his first band a year later: the Downbeats, later the Blue Chips. Success stepped up a notch with a place in Billy Fury’s backing band, and after John Lennon saw a performance by another White band, prog rockers Griffin, he was recruited as drummer for the Plastic Ono Band.
Whisked in a limo to an airport and given three days to learn the group’s material, White played the concert that became live album Live Peace in Toronto 1969, and also played drums on Lennon’s album Imagine (plus vibraphone on Jealous Guy) as well as George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass. Other live work came backing another drumming legend, Ginger Baker, in his sprawling group Air Force.
White was asked to join Yes in 1972, and again he had only three days to learn the repertoire for a US tour. “I was prepared for different time signatures and the way the band flowed, but I added more of a rock element than Bill [Bruford] did,” he later said.
